Exterior with tourists at the Basilica of San Francesco dAssisi in Assisi, Umbria, Italy. The Papal Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Order of Friars Minor Conventual in Assisi, a town of Umbria region in central Italy, where Saint Francis was born and died. The basilica is one of the most important places of Christian pilgrimage in Italy. Assisi is a town in the Province of Perugia in the Umbria region, on the western flank of Monte Subasio. It is generally regarded as the birthplace of the Latin poet Propertius, and is the birthplace of St. Francis, who founded the Franciscan religious order in the town in 1208, and St. Clare, Chiara dOffreducci, the founder of the Poor Sisters, which later became the Order of Poor Clares after her death. Assisi is now a major tourist destination for those sightseeing or for more religious reasons.